Ski brake

Abstract

A holding plate is secured on the top surface of a ski and pivotally supports a support frame. The support frame is a piece of wire material bent preferably into the shape of a square or an omega, the sections of which are preferably coplanar and at least one section of which serves as the pivot axle therefor. A torsion spring encircles said one section of the frame, has two legs with eyelets which respectively grip adjacent sections of the frame, and has a central section which rests against the holding plate. An operating pedal is releasably mounted on the support frame by resilient fastening clamps fabricated from the material of the operating pedal, at least one fastening clamp being engaged with each section of the support frame other than the section serving as the pivot axle. A pair of braking arms is pivotally supported in the pedal, and the pedal is pivotally movable between a braking position in which the free ends of the braking arms extend downwardly below the bottom of the ski and a retracted position in which such free ends are positioned above the top surface of the ski.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. In a ski brake having a braking mechanism which has two braking arms and an operating pedal means which supports said braking arms, said braking mechanism being supported pivotally by a pivot axle means mounted on a holding plate adapted to be secured to the upper side of a ski, said pivot axle means supporting said braking mechanism for movement about an axis which extends substantially at a right angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of said ski, said braking mechanism being pivotal about said axis against the force of an erecting spring from a braking position into a retracted position, each braking arm being maintained in the retracted position of the braking mechanism above the upper side and inwardly of the two side surfaces of the ski by a force applied to an operating plate part of said operating pedal means and a braking arm extension operable by said operating plate, wherein after the operating pedal means becomes free, for example after a fall or a stepping out of the ski binding, the two braking arms project below the running surface of the ski, the improvement comprising wherein the braking mechanism is supported on the holding plate by interpositioning a support frame which is constructed of a multiply bent spring wire of which at least one individual section forms said pivot axle means for said support frame on said holding plate, the individual adjoining sections of the wire forming said support frame being connected to the wire section(s) which forms said pivot axle means, said adjoining sections forming at least one of an approximate square and an omega; wherein the sections of wire forming said support frame are coplanar and remain coplanar throughout the range of movement of said ski brake; and wherein connecting means are provided for releasably connecting said operating plate to said support frame, said releasable connection effecting a fixed positioning of said operating plate on said support frame. 
     
     
       2. The ski brake according to claim 1, wherein the region of said operating plate facing said support frame has resilient fastening clamps thereon for releasably securing said operating pedal to the individual wire sections of said support frame, at least one of said fastening clamps being operatively connected to each leg of said adjoining sections of the support frame. 
     
     
       3. The ski brake according to claim 2, wherein the fastening clamps are constructed of the material of the operating pedal. 
     
     
       4. The ski brake according to claim 1, wherein the connection between said operating plate and said support frame is reinforced by at least one fastening clamp engaging the region between each of two wire sections which form said pivot axle means and each of at least two wire legs of said adjoining sections. 
     
     
       5. The ski brake according to claim 1, wherein said erecting spring has a central looplike portion mounted on said holding plate and two free ends which each slidably encircle a respective upwardly projecting leg of said adjoining sections of said support frame.